Boston’s $325 million rebuild of White Stadium for a pro soccer team was dealt another blow this week when the state Supreme Judicial Court opted to take more time to consider an appeal from a community group seeking to kill the project.
The SJC heard arguments for and against a lawsuit filed against the city and pro soccer team back in April, but the state’s top court issued an order Tuesday waiving the 130-day deadline to rule on the legality of the stadium rebuild, as challenged by a group of neighbors and Emerald Necklace Conservancy.
One pundit told the Herald that the court order suggests the SJC is seriously considering the appeal, which could prove disastrous for the city and Mayor Michelle Wu, given the significant cost of the plan — with city taxpayers on the hook for $135 million — and construction that is well underway.
“It would be a political disaster,” Gregory Maynard, executive director of the Boston Policy Institute, told the Herald, referring to the potential for the SJC to overturn a lower court ruling in favor of the city’s public-private stadium rebuild.
“This would be the biggest loss of Wu’s time as mayor, ” Maynard added. “Like, political disaster isn’t a big enough phrase, because it’s just so much time and money and effort that has been spent on this.”
Complicating matters further is the team, Boston Legacy FC, said it won’t commit to its prior timeline of beginning to play its professional matches at White Stadium next year. The Legacy played its inaugural season at Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium this year, due to construction and litigation delays tied to the White Stadium plan.
“We are currently awaiting a decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the outcome of which will be an important factor in the timeline for White Stadium,” Jennifer Epstein, controlling owner of Boston Legacy FC, said Friday in a statement to the Herald.
“While that process continues, White Stadium construction is progressing with ongoing vertical construction,” Epstein added. “We remain committed to delivering White Stadium as a state-of-the-art facility for BPS students, the community, and Boston Legacy FC, and will share further information once the Court has issued its ruling.”
Wu’s office said Friday that the court delay isn’t impacting its construction schedule. But as of late afternoon, the city’s White Stadium project website said plans were proceeding for “a summer 2027 opening,” about four months after the start of the National Women’s Soccer League schedule.
The city’s targeted opening date could force the Boston Legacy, which is paying roughly $190 million for its half of the White Stadium rebuild, to play another season outside of its anticipated home pitch in Franklin Park.
“The rebuilding of White Stadium continues on a six-day schedule to deliver the state-of-the-art athletics facility that BPS students have long deserved,” a city spokesperson said in a statement. “After nearly a year of active construction on site, the grandstand steel is going up, masonry work is underway, and subsurface utility upgrades are nearly complete.
“As school starts this fall, we will continue to work with BPS students, the Athletics Department, and the Neighborhood Advisory Council to shape programming and scheduling for White Stadium’s athletic and public facilities. We look forward to the Court’s final decision,” the city spokesperson added.
The White Stadium project has proved to be divisive in Boston, and is the subject of a community lawsuit filed by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and a group of park neighbors who call themselves the Franklin Park Defenders.
The lawsuit alleges the proposed professional soccer use of the stadium would illegally privatize public parkland, in violation of state constitution, and therefore requires review by the Legislature for a change in use.
The city disputes the privatization claim, saying that the city and Boston Public Schools will maintain ownership of the stadium under a 10-year lease agreement with Boston Legacy.
A Suffolk Superior Court judge sided with the city after a three-day trial last year, leading the plaintiffs to appeal the ruling. The Supreme Judicial Court took up the case, and is now weighing the lawsuit after hearing arguments from both sides in April.
Throughout the hour-long hearing, SJC justices rigorously questioned both representatives for the plaintiff and the city’s defense, giving little indication of how they intend to rule.
Speaking to his interpretation of the SJC’s delay on a ruling, Maynard said, “Upholding the lower court is easy. It seems like the Court is doing something harder.”
The plaintiffs have criticized the city for moving forward with construction while the litigation is pending.
Parking and traffic concerns have been raised by park neighbors since the $325 million public-private plan to rebuild White Stadium for shared use by the Legacy and Boston Public Schools student-athletes was announced two years ago.
Other concerns have centered around the escalating price tag. Taxpayers are on the hook for the city’s half of the costs, which have nearly tripled from $50 million initially to $135 million earlier this year.
Opponents of the public-private deal have pitched a high-school-only stadium alternative that they say can be built at a fraction of the cost to taxpayers, $64.6 million.
Wu administration officials have said that a public-only rebuild would cost “well over” $135 million, the latest projected cost to taxpayers, and have defended the stadium plan, saying that the city could not afford to rebuild the long-dilapidated facility without a private investment partner.